Microsoft Typography | Developer information | VOLT | Microsoft VOLT UI Overview
		Microsoft VOLT UI Overview These notes by Paul Nelson were originally written to accompany a seminar on using VOLT, and provide an overview of the VOLT menus and user interface (UI). Menus This section will walk through each menu item and provide a brief explanation of what it is used for. File Menu Open Font – Opens a font for use in VOLT. Only one file may be open at a time. Save Font – Writes changes to the file that is opened. Save Font As – Allows a font file to be saved under another name. Ship Font – Compiles OpenType tables and removes VOLT working tables from the font. This saves space in fonts that are shipped. Most Recently Used File List – A convenient shortcut to open files that have been recently worked on in VOLT. Project Menu Add Script – Adds a script node to the writing system tree. Remove Script – Removes the currently selected script and its children from the writing system tree. Add Language – Adds a language node to the currently selected script node. Remove Language – Removes the currently selected language and its children from the writing system tree. Add Feature – Adds a feature node to the currently selected language node. Remove Feature – Removes the currently selected feature tag from the writing system tree. No lookups assigned to the feature being deleted are deleted from the lookup list. You must use the Remove Lookup command to do that Add Substitution – Adds a substitution type lookup element to the lookup list Add Positioning – Adds a positioning type lookup element to the lookup list Remove Lookup – Removes the currently selected lookup element from the lookup list Add Glyph Group – Adds a glyph group element to the group list Remove Glyph Group – Removes the currently selected glyph group element from the group list. NOTE: All of the Project menu commands can be accessed by using the buttons at the bottom of the main VOLT window. Tools Menu Compile – Compiles the VOLT tables into appropriate OpenType tables so they can be used with the fonts. Edit Glyphs – Allows for glyph properties (name, type, Unicode value(s), and number of components) to be assigned to each glyph. Edit Glyph Group – Opens the currently selected glyph group for editing. This can also be done by double clicking on the desired glyph group entry in the group list. Edit Lookup – Opens the currently selected substitution or positioning lookup for editing. This can also be done by double clicking on the desired lookup entry in the lookup list. Proofing Tool – Opens the Proofing Tool window so that OpenType behavior can be tested. Options – Provides the user a way to set preferred glyph sizes and cmap types for the fonts. These values are saved in the font. Import Menu Import Glyph Data – Imports glyph data from a previously saved file (*.vtd). Data can be imported for a Glyph Range or by Unicode Values. Import Lookup – Imports a lookup element from a previously saved file (*.vtl). Import Glyph Group – Imports a glyph group element from a previously saved file (*.vtg). Import PostScript Names – Imports names for glyphs from the “post” table of the font. This is a simple way to match glyphs to user friendly names from the font. Import Project – Imports all VOLT data from a previously saved file (*.vtp). This includes the glyph data, writing system, lookups and glyph groups. Export Menu Export Glyph Data – Saves the glyph data and writing system to a file (*.vtd). Export Lookup – Exports the currently active lookup element’s data to a file (*.vtl). Export Glyph Group – Exports the currently active glyph group element’s data to a file (*.vtg). Export Project – Exports all glyph data, lookups and glyph groups to a single file (*.vtp). Toolbars Open – Opens a font. Save – Saves the current font Edit Glyphs – Opens the Glyph Editor window Edit Lookup – Opens the currently selected substitution or positioning lookup for editing. This can also be done by double clicking on the desired lookup entry in the lookup list. Edit Group – Opens the currently selected glyph group for editing. This can also be done by double clicking on the desired lookup entry in the lookup list. Compile – Compiles the VOLT tables into OpenType tables in the font. Proofing Tool – Opens the Proofing Tool window for testing the OpenType table behavior. Dialogs and Windows Main VOLT Window The main VOLT window is described below in functional areas. Writing system is displayed in a tree control format. The writing system tree displays scripts, languages assigned to scripts, features assigned to languages, and lookups that are referenced by features. Add Script – Adds a new script. The Default language is automatically added with each new script. Remove Script – Deletes the currently selected script and its children nodes. Add Language – Adds a new language to the currently active script. Remove Language – Deletes the currently selected language and its children nodes. Add Feature – Adds a new feature to the currently active language. Remove Feature – Deletes the currently selected feature and the references assigned to it. The lookups referenced are not deleted. The lookup list is the list of lookups specified for the font. The ordering of the lookups is the order in which they will be applied. To change the lookup order, select the lookup to be moved and drag it up or down the list to the correct location. Add Substitution – Adds a substitution type lookup element to the lookup list Add Positioning – Adds a positioning type lookup element to the lookup list Remove Lookup – Removes the currently selected lookup element from the lookup list To link a lookup to a feature, select the lookup and drag it over to the feature for the writing system desired. The glyph group list provides the glyph groups for the font. Add Glyph Group – Adds a glyph group element to the group list Remove Glyph Group – Removes the currently selected glyph group element from the group list. Options Dialog Glyph Size in Grids – Specify the point size of the glyphs that are displayed in the grid controls. Glyph Size for Presentation – Specify the point size of the currently selected glyph preview in the Glyph Editor. Glyph Size for Positioning – The size of glyphs for preview in the Positioning Lookup window. Gray Scale – Display preview windows with gray scale enabled. CMAP Generation – Allows a user to specify various ‘cmap’ formats for the font. Please refer to http://www.microsoft.com/typography/OTSPEC/cmap.htm for details about cmap formats. Glyph Editor Dialog This window is used for editing glyph properties. Find – Find a glyph by name or value. A shortcut for the Find button is Ctrl+F. Name - edit the glyph name used by VOLT. Type - set the mark type: simple, mark or ligature ID - the glyph ID, can not be edited Unicode - edit the Unicode value for the glyph Components - the number of components of a glyph Glyphs - each glyph occupies a single cell in the display grid. The cell contains a preview of the glyph, the name, glyph ID, Unicode value(s) and the type and number of components (if it is a ligature). Proofing Tool Dialog This dialog is used to proof the OpenType shaping functionality that has been specified. Script – Set the script to use for selecting the writing system. Language – Set the language to use for selecting the writing system. Text Flow – Controls the layout order of the text in the preview. Alternate – Used to set the alternate number if an alternate substitution is used. Edit string – Used to specify the text that will be displayed. This must be the name of a glyph specified in the font. Features – The features that are available for the specified writing system. To set the value(s) for each glyph, place the caret in the glyph name, or select one or more glyph names to which the features will be applied. Check on or off the feature. Lookups – The lookup(s) that will be processed are highlighted. All processing is done in lookup order. Restart – Restart the glyph processing from the beginning Next Glyph – Moves the processing to the next glyph Next Lookup – Moves the processing to the next lookup Complete – Moves the processing to the end of the processing. This is the final form of display Text above display provides the current glyph names showing. this page was last updated 20 August 2002 © 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of use. comments to the MST group: how to contact us
	Microsoft Typography | Developer information | VOLT | Converting a Devanagari font